Rivian delivered 42,247 vehicles in 2025, a drop from 51,579 the year prior. The startup automaker took a sharp hit in the fourth quarter, as electric-vehicle tax credits came to an end. Rivian is now hanging its future on the more affordable R2, due out this year, as well as improvements to its autonomous driving platform and a technical partnership with Volkswagen.
Making the perfect door handle for a new car is surprisingly difficult. At least, that's what some car companies are suggesting. It might have something to do with cost-cutting, and it could also be linked to electric car manufacturers' pursuit of the highest possible efficiency. The result is simple: electronic door handles that look cool and help the car slip through the air with ease.
Shares of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Rivian have been on a rollercoaster this year, surging and then falling after its first-quarter report. They recovered somewhat since the second-quarter report. In the latest results, revenue was up slightly year over year to $1.6 billion. The company posted a narrower-than-expected loss. The company noted this quarter was likely its strongest delivery quarter of the year due to the expiration of federal EV tax credits.
Rivian Automotive Inc. has developed its own artificial intelligence chip, replacing Nvidia Corp. technology as part of a broader push to add and enhance automated-driving features in future vehicles. The automaker will equip its upcoming R2 sport utility vehicles with Rivian Autonomy Processor 1 chips and a new lidar sensor. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will produce the chips that, combined with the new sensor and AI model developments, will bolster Rivian's efforts to eventually offer autonomous driving capability.
Rivian revealed a sweet new purple limited-run color for the R1. Its design studio calls the color 'Borealis', we call it fun in a sea of monochrome. Automakers take note: this is how you stand out. I've had a bone to pick with Rivian ever since it did away with Compass Yellow. It was a good color, and the world has enough monochrome cars to last a lifetime.
Rivian Automotive Inc. ( NASDAQ: RIVN) posted another quarter that shows how little progress it has made in the electric vehicle (EV) sector. Management pointed out that revenue rose 78% to $1.56 billion. It is more instructive to look at the previous quarter (June), in which revenue was $1.3 billion. Most EV makers had a sales surge because people rushed to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit before it ended. That did not happen to Rivian.
Shares of Rivian Automotive Inc. ( NASDAQ: RIVN) are changing hands for 8.8% less than a week ago, despite posting better-than-expected third-quarter results. The company reaffirmed its 2025 delivery guidance range of 41,500 to 43,500 units. It has also announced the launch of a new industrial AI and robotics startup called Mind Robotics. The share price is still 21.5% higher than a year ago, outperforming the S&P 500 in that time.
"The location is important to us", says Bo Lincoln, General Manager Sweden at Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies. Bo Lincoln is former co-founder of Iternio, a Lund-based EV route planing startup, which was acquired by Rivian in 2023. Now his team is creating the software and digital execution platform for electric vehicle products from Rivian and Volkswagen brands, including the Rivian R1, R2 and R3 as well as the VW ID.every1.
Rivian is changing the door handle design on its upcoming R2 SUV after employees and customers raised safety concerns, according to Bloomberg News. The automaker is one of many that has leaned into electronically-latched door handles over the last few years. While this allows for sleeker presentation and more aerodynamic design, it often results in the automaker tucking the manual emergency door releases away in hard-to-find places.
This marks the second time that Rivian has cut its sales projections this year. At the start of 2025, the company expected to sell up to 51,000 vehicles. In May, as it became clear that President Trump's tariffs and attacks on key climate policies would deal a blow to America's EV industry, Rivian cut the top end of its forecast to 46,000 units. Now it doesn't expect to meet that, either.
With the announcement of a new plant in Georgia made earlier this month, and a deal with Volkswagen several months ago, it looked like Rivian Automotive Inc. ( NASDAQ: RIVN), which has lost billions of dollars and will probably lose billions more, was on the road to a better future. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported it had begun a preliminary investigation into 17,198 Rivian electric delivery vans over seat belt flaw concerns.
